Use this 8-week workout plan to get ripped, lean and super-shredded this summer.
The name of the game right now is single-digit body fat.
You want the tight abs and vascular leanness – and you’re willing to do what it takes to get there.
This 8-week workout plan isn’t about ditching a few excess pounds for the summer – we’re talking full body fat assault.
You’re here because you’re sick of that fluffy look. You’re already kind of lean; but you want to supercharge your physique to show-ready standard.
Who can blame you?
Nothing says alpha like a pumped up shredded physique walking confidently down the beach front.
This 8-week workout program guarantees to get you absolutely ripped. It’s time to build some muscle, burn some fat and turn up the metabolic fire to super-hot temperature.
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The 8-week workout plan to get ripped
In just two months you’ll be unrecognizable.
No more hiding under sweats and hoodies. No more hitting the gym at the quietest times with your head down at the floor.
This 8-week workout plan to get ripped promises maximum shredability.
It’s been designed by our team of prep coaches to give you all the tools you need to carve out a podium physique. It combines brutally-tough strength training with a cardio response that plain annihilates fat stores.
Workout notes: Hints and tips to get ripped
Compound exercises
Any exercise that activates more than one muscle group is called a compound exercise.
Examples include:
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Bench press
- Rows
Compound exercises are not only time-efficient (they target multiple muscle groups, so less exercises are needed to get a full-body workout), they are also better for getting ripped.
The benefits include:
- Increase calorie burn
- Build muscle mass
- Elevates metabolic rate
- Leads to the release of growth hormone and testosterone
- Increases strength
Naturally, this 8-week workout plan to get ripped is built on large, multi-muscle lifts. To get maximum results you’ve got to start with the best exercises.
Lift heavy
The biggest benefit of compound exercises is that you can lift much more weight than you would with an isolation exercise. For example, the load you can move in a squat should be far more than what you’d shift during a bicep curl (if it isn’t, you’re probably skipping leg day).
Unsurprisingly, heavy lifting results in a larger release of anabolic growth factors that support gains.
Studies show that there’s a significantly higher level of circulating growth factors and testosterone right after a set of weights at 80% 1RM than lighter loads at 60%.
Not only that, lifting heavy builds strength and muscle mass too.
Key Point: Aim to lift as heavy as you can for the rep range you’re given. As the weights get easier, make sure you increase them to maintain progression.
Volume is key
The key to getting single-digit ripped is to build muscle mass and increase energy expenditure – in other words get jacked and shredded.
Volume refers to the total weight lifted per muscle, per workout. Simply put, it’s…
Load x reps x sets
Higher volume workouts burn more fat as they increase energy expenditure and metabolism. They also significantly elevate post-exercise metabolic response – meaning you burn more calories after your workout too.
In this program you’ll be targeting each muscle with multiple sets for the best results.
Reign in the calories
The only way you’ll get ripped this summer is by combining your ripped body program with a calorie-controlled diet plan.
If you eat more than you burn off, you’ll continue storing the excess in those fat cells. But switch that around and you’ll melt fat in no time.
Bottom line – you need to be a calorie deficit to burn fat.
Period.
A deficit of around 20% works well if you don’t like the constant hunger of dieting. But a 40% aggressive cut to calories gives great results but should only be used for a week or two at a time.
For more help with nutrition for muscle building or fat loss check out our guide to bodybuilding diet.
Hit those macros
Once you’ve nailed your calorie intake you need to start filling in the gaps.
There aren’t many rules when it comes to the foods you should eat when getting ripped. Obviously, you need to focus on lean meats and vegetables, but the food choices are down to your own preference.
Here’s a guideline to use to fill out your macros for your diet:
- 3-1.8 g of protein per kilo of body weight
- 1 g of fat per kilo of body weight
- Fill out the rest with carbs. This’ll come to somewhere between 2 – 5 per kilo of body weight
Program overview
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Upper Body Strength 1 | Lower Body Strength 1 | Rest | Upper Body Strength 2 | Lower Body Strength 2 | Rest | Rest |
| Week 2 | Lower Body Strength 1 | Upper Body Strength 1 | Rest | Lower Body Strength 2 | Upper Body Strength 2 | Rest | Rest |
| Week 3 | Upper Body Strength 1 | Lower Body Strength 1 | Rest | Upper Body Strength 2 | Lower Body Strength 2 | Rest | Rest |
| Week 4 | Lower Body Strength 1 | Upper Body Strength 1 | Rest | Lower Body Strength 2 | Upper Body Strength 2 | Rest | Rest |
| Week 5 | Upper Body Strength 1 | Lower Body Strength 1 | Rest | Upper Body Strength 2 | Lower Body Strength 2 | Rest | Rest |
| Week 6 | Lower Body Strength 1 | Upper Body Strength 1 | Rest | Lower Body Strength 2 | Upper Body Strength 2 | Rest | Rest |
| Week 7 | Upper Body Strength 1 | Lower Body Strength 1 | Rest | Upper Body Strength 2 | Lower Body Strength 2 | Rest | Rest |
| Week 8 | Lower Body Strength 1 | Upper Body Strength 1 | Rest | Lower Body Strength 2 | Upper Body Strength 2 | Rest | Rest |
As you can see from the overview above, you’ll be hitting up the gym for a total of 4-times per week.
Your workouts are split into twice-weekly upper body workouts, and twice-weekly lower body. The workouts will be progressive, tough and both physically and mentally challenging – but it’ll have to be to support your ripped body goals.
Don’t miss any workouts or you’ll negatively affect the continuity of the plan. However, if you do miss one for a valid reason, try and catch it up as soon as you can.
Having two different workouts for upper and lower body in your plan allows flexibility, variety and a powerful full-body, fat-shredding stimulus.
The rep ranges vary across workouts, which helps with fat burning and muscle building – with an emphasis on creating as much calorie burning as possible.
Supersets
The beauty of splitting workouts into upper body and lower body is that it provides a perfect opportunity to structure your workout into supersets – an intense fat-burning system that’s both time-efficient and effective.
Supersets involve completing 2 exercises back to back without rest.
The two exercises in these supersets involve totally unrelated muscle groups – for example dumbbell bench press (chest) and dumbbell row (back).
For supersets to work optimally, you need to organize each exercise in advance. Placing your row dumbbells next to the bench press helps you reduce unnecessary rest time moving from one exercise to the next – you literally just put one pair down after benching and pick up the dumbbells for your row (even easier if they’re the same weight as you don’t even have to put them down).
Supersets are written in your plan in a specific way. This helps you identify which two are to be completed together. If both exercises start with the same letter and are numbered 1 and 2, they’re a superset.
For example:
- Bench press
- Dumbbell row
Note: Not every exercise in your plan is organised as a superset. Make sure you look carefully at your plan before you make a start.
Rest periods
Recovery between supersets is important for productivity.
Once you’ve completed each pair of superset exercises, you can rest as long as you need to. You don’t need to rush, or you’ll just get fatigued.
But not before.
We suggest a good 3-5 minutes rest at the end of each superset for maximum productivity.
The workouts
Upper body strength 1.
A1. Barbell overhead press – 8-15 reps
A2. Pull-ups – 8-15 reps
B1. Dumbbell bench press – 8-15 reps
B2. Dumbbell bent over row – 8-15 reps
C1. Dips – 8-15 reps
C2. Inverted body weight row – 8-15 reps
D1. Rope pushdown – 8-15 reps
D2. Rope bicep hammer curl – 8-15 reps
Lower body strength 1.
A1. Deadlift – 3 x 8-15 reps
B1. Leg press – 3 x 8-15 reps
B2. Lying leg curl – 3 x 8-15 reps
C1. Dumbbell step-up – 3 x 8-15 reps
C2. Alternate back lunge – 3 x 8-15 reps
D1. Leg extension – 3 x 8-15 reps
D2. Dumbbell Romanian deadlift – 3 x 8-15 reps
Upper body strength 2.
A1. Seated cable row – 3 x 6 – 10 reps
A2. Dumbbell fly – 3 x 6 – 10 reps
B1. Lat pulldown- 3 x 6 – 10 reps
B2. Dumbbell lateral raise- 3 x 6 – 10 reps
C1. Chins- 3 x 6 – 10 reps
C2. Dumbbell front raise – 3 x 6 – 10 reps
D1. Dumbbell incline bicep curl – 3 x 6 – 10 reps
D2. EZ bar skullcrusher – 3 x 6 – 10 reps
Lower body strength 2.
A1. Barbell back squat – 3 x 6 – 10 reps
B1. Lying leg curl – 3 x 6 – 10 reps
B2. Bulgarian split squat – 3 x 6 – 10 reps
C1. Standing calf raise – 3 x 6 – 10 reps
C2. Hyperextension – 3 x 6 – 10 reps
D1. Barbell front squat – 3 x 6 – 10 reps
D2. Floor slides – 3 x 6 – 10 reps
The bottom line
Now you’ve got the tools, all that’s left is to hit up the weights room and put it all into action.
Combine this brutally-effective 8-week program to get ripped with a calorie-controlled diet to see drastic changes to your physique.
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